Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 411 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in March 2025 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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In April 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected a Deliveroo rider’s request for the reclassification of his service contract with the company as an employment contract. The Court reasoned that the link of subordination, which determines an employer-employee relationship between the platform and the rider, had not been demonstrated based on the arguments presented by the rider (receiving strict instructions from the company on prices, imposing a dress code, setting of working hours, geolocation tracking, financial penalties). The judges noted that the platform did not require the worker to wear the company logo on his clothes, that the rider was free to work or not according to the proposed tariffs, that geolocation tracking served to ensure the link between the restaurant owner and the end customer, that the tariff deductions as a reaction to non-compliance with clothing practices or unjustified absences were not a disciplinary power but a financial withholding defined in the contract. These considerations run counter to the position taken by the Court of Cassation in its judgment of March 2020, particularly on the matter of the geolocation tracking device.
In January 2018, an Uber driver’s request to be regarded as employee was dismissed by the Paris Industrial Tribunal. The driver requested the reclassification of the service provider contract which …
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
